Birthday Tiramisu Layer Cake

It's been a while since I made a whole birthday cake, but for my hubbie the hard work is totally worth it! This recipe is based on the recipe from Baking: From My Home to Yours

For the cake layers (1 regular, 1 chocolate/coffee):
2 cups (255 grams) cake flour
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons or 140 grams)) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (200 grams) sugar
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons (8 ml) pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup (175 ml) buttermilk

Chocolate/coffee cake layer
half of the cake layer batter 
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder 

For the espresso extract:
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
2 tablespoons (30 ml) boiling water

For the espresso syrup:
1/2 cup (120 ml) water
1/3 cup (65 grams) sugar
1 tablespoon (15 ml) amaretto, Kahlua (here I used Kahlua)

For the filling and frosting:
2 8-ounce (225 grams) container mascarpone
1/2 cup (60 grams) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons (8 ml) pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon (15 ml) amaretto, Kahlua, or brandy (Deb note: I used brandy)
1 cup (235 ml) cold heavy cream
2 1/2 ounces (70 grams) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, or about 1/2 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Decoration: (optional)
Ladyfingers, for the rim around the cake
cocoa powder, for dusting

Steps:

Getting ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter on two 9×2 inch round cake pans, dust the insides with flour, tap out the excess, and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment or wax paper. (the bottom parchment is definitely crucial! Or else the cake will stick and doesn't come out perfect)

To make the cake:

1. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, and then the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don’t be concerned if the mixture looks curdled. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, adding the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients); scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix only until the ingredients disappear into the batter. 
3. Divide the batter evenly in 2 mixing bowls. 1 batter add in instant espresso powder and cocoa powder until it's mixed well
   
   
4. Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, rotating the pans at the midway point. When fully baked, the cakes will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the centers will come out clean. Transfer the cakes to a rack and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them, and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right-side up. 

To make the extract:

1. Stir the espresso powder and boiling water together in a small cup until blended. Set aside.

To make the syrup:

1. Stir the water and sugar together in a small saucepan and bring just to a boil. Pour the syrup into a small heatproof bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon of the espresso extract and the liqueur or brandy; set aside.

To make the filling and frosting:

1. Put the mascarpone, sugar, vanilla, and liqueur in a large bowl and whisk just until blended and smooth.
2. Working with the stand mixer with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, whip the heavy cream until it holds firm peaks. Switch to a rubber spatula and stir about one quarter of the whipped cream into the mascarpone. Fold in the rest of the whipped cream with a light touch.

To assemble the cake:

1. If the tops of the cake layers have crowned, use a long serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion to even them. Place one layer right-side up on a cardboard round or a cake plate protected with strips of wax or parchment paper. 
2. Using a pastry brush or a small spoon, soak the layer with about one third of the espresso syrup. Smooth some of the mascarpone cream over the layer – user about 1 1/4 cups – and gently press the chopped chocolate into the filling. Put the second cake layer on the counter and soak the top of it with half the remaining espresso syrup, then turn the layer over and position it, soaked side down, over the filling. Soak the top of the cake with the remaining syrup.
3. For the frosting, whisk 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of the remaining espresso extract into the remaining mascarpone filling and whipped cream
   
4. With a long metal icing spatula, smooth the frosting around the sides of the cake and over the top. If you want to decorate the cake with chocolate-covered espresso beans, press them into the filling, making concentric circles of beans or just putting some beans in the center of the cake.
   
5. Cut ladyfingers in appropriate length to line along the cake. 
6. Refrigerate the cake for at least 3 hours (or for up to 1 day) before serving – the elements need time to meld.
7. Just before serving, dust the top of the cake with cocoa.

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Happy Baking!

My First Candied Yam

Happy Thanksgiving to you all :)

I am so excited to make my first traditional Thanksgiving dish this year. I am usually the one who joins the party and nibble on the delicious dishes made by others. Thank you TRC for giving me this chance to try this out! Note to self: I think next time I will try to cook the yams with the spice and blend in the butter. I believe that will make the stuffing much more flavorful.

Candied Yams (servings for 40 people)
9 lbs canned yams
1 bag of mini marshmallows
2 cups of brown sugar
1 stick of butter
1-2 tbs cinnamon (optional)
1-2 tbs nutmeg (optional)
1 tsp salt

This time I used canned yams and I felt like the flavor is not strong enough. I will try fresh yam next time!

Steps:

1. Preheat oven for 400 F degrees  
2. drain the canned yams and smashed them with a mixer or fork. Season with spices and brown sugar until the right consistency and flavor 
3. Smother the paste into a foil tray or baking tray, add knobs of butter on the top
4. Sprinkle mini marshmallows, the more the better!
5. Bake for 25 minutes or until marshmallows melted and turned to golden brown. Serve hot

Healthy Pancake

Food is such a comforting substance that God has given us. I have no doubt about it because there are so many things happening on me recently and whenever I feel stressed I just cook away and that actually helps. I have been searching for some healthy recipes which are substitutions of some original but slightly unhealthy ones. I am happy to have some major findings and I can't tell how satisfied I am to actually experiment the recipes and they work!

One morning, I woke up missing the toasty warm and fluffy American pancakes but I know the recipe usually calls for SOME butter so I googled over several websites and there I found a wonderful recipe that calls for olive oil instead of butter. I presumed the fluffiness would disappear and it would taste worse. But we never know! It worked a magic and this recipe is a keeper! I think you can basically use any kinds of odorless cooking oil. Best served with fresh fruit. To be thoroughly healthy, I used pure honey instead of the sugary syrup.

Fluffy American Pancake

 

Ingredients

135g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
130ml milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp olive oil

Preparation method

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the olive oil.

2. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Any lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing. Let the batter stand for a few minutes.

3. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add a ladle of batter (or two if your frying pan is big enough to cook two pancakes at the same time). It will seem very thick but this is how it should be. Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over and cook until both sides are golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm (½in) thick.

4. Repeat until all the batter is used up. You can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven, but they taste best fresh out the pan.


Gnocchi Love

I guess before I even know how to pronounce "Gnocchi" I already fell in love with this starchy pasta. It'san italian version of mochi, and it is definitely a pleasant alternative for a regular pasta fix.
Surprisingly, this fancy dish is very easy to make.

Ingredients (servings of 2):
1/2 pack of Racconto Gnocchi (I used whole wheat)
2 portebello mushrooms, diced 
1 carrot, diced
1/2 white onion
pinch of sea salt and pepper for seasoning
1/3 bottle Arrabiata Saice
3 tbs Alfredo Sauce
2 hard boiled eggs
1 slice of toast
pinch of parsley
Romano Cheese

Steps:

1. Bring water to a boil, add a pinch of salt and cook the gnocchi until soft. Drain out pasta. Don't drain under water
2. Sauteed onions in medium heat. Add portebello musrooms and carrots. Cook until golden brown.
3. Season with parsley, salt and pepper
4. Add Arrabiata Sauce and Alfredo Sauce in the veggies. Mix in Romano Cheese until sauce is thickened
5. Prepare toast and hard boiled eggs. Make sure you don't over cook your eggs. The yolk should still be soft or running
6. Bon Appetit!

To cook to al dante, make sure you boil the gnocchi for no longer than 5 minutes. Or else they look all gooey and soft!

I opted for Arrabiata sauce because of the slight spiciness and tanginess of the tomato.

I also particularly love my carrots be tender to chew :) the texture also goes well with the sauce. Trick for a thick sauce: add hard cheeses like parmigiano, romano or parmesan will help. Also, remember to shimmer it in low heat. 

100% Pure Mini Eclairs

Eclairs - which is a longer version of cream puffs - is my childhood favorite. The cripsy shell smells buttery but light as air but it compliments with a mouthful of whipped cream that bursts the flavors in your mouth...mmmmmmmMMM who can resisit a freshly made eclair?

My first memory of cream puff was a very proud one. Back in high school, I was the culinary team which prepares refreshments for most school events. In the midst of the busy preparation, a senior came to me for help because her cream puffs were all flat. Although I had never tried making cream puffs, I offered help and tried the recipe. And, vola! the new puffs came alive! So..what's the secret behind a nice cream puff?

Here are the fail-proof steps I used:

 Ingredients

• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs, beated
• Vanilla Whipped Cream

  Steps

1. Preheat oven for 400 degrees and line a cookie baking tray with waxed paper
2. mix in milk, butter, sugar and salt in a medium heat sauce pan. Stir well until the butter melts
3. add the flour all at once into the liquid, stir vigorously and avoid the flour from sticking to the pan
4. mix until the dough sticks and forms an elastic dough. Fold the dough in low heat for about 1 minute
5.  when the dough shows a shiny surface and slightly sticks to the pan, turn off the heat and let it cool
6. when the dough is warm, mix in the beated eggs, 1/4 of the eggs at a time
7. Slowly pour in the eggs and mix the batter until it's sticky. Note: the right texture should be soft but stiff enough to stay on the spetula. There should always have excessive egg mixture remained *
8. transfer dough to pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round tip
9. pipe 2 1/2 inch long eclairs and keep about a 1/2 inch spacing between each one. Bake until exclairs rise and turned golden brown. Bake for 20-25 minutes
10. Whip cream and add vanillar extract or liquor. Can mix with berries or jam with the cream. 
11. Cool the eclairs on a tray and split them in half with a knife. Spoon or pipe the cream into eclair bottoms and spoon more berries on the top. Sandwich with eclair tops. Serve immediately

 

*The right texture(Sorry, I forgot to capture the moment when I was baking..here's a picture of reference. If you can read the Chinese description is even better haha)

Throughout my journey of perfecting my cream puff recipe, I found this cook book in a book store back in HK. This is almost the text book of making cream puffs. What I like most of the book is that it not only has fancy pictures and a variety of flavors to test out, but also it lists out all the successful tips and failed examples. It is definitely helpful for the baking process. 

For the filling, I am always lazy to make my own custard from scratch so I always opt for the whipping cream..I am longing to make custard one day..I will let you guys know if I finally get myself to make one. 

This is efficiency people:)

Taking turns to blog really speeds this up and we are so motivated to write. I am so glad we have new posts finally.

Speaking of clearing the fridge(btw...the omurice looks FAAAANNNNNTASSSSSTIC), I believe all the serious home chefs/bakers face the same problem. You see fun/fresh/interesting ingredients and you buy it because you THINK you have time for a little experiment but it turns out they sit in your fridge or cupboard, waiting for you to discover them again. But then you find the expiry date is drawing near. This is not bad actually. Now is the time for you to get creative and invent. At the end, you use all the things up and you are so satisfied.
(And now you can buy new ingredients again YAY)

So what do I need to clear this time?

Veggie Mash

2 large potatoes

1/2 cup of milk/cream

a knob of butter

any kind of vegetables you can find in your fridge e.g. carrots, onions, beans, eggplants etc

sea salt and black pepper to taste

1) Boil the potatoes in a large pot of water until softened up

2) Drain them into a colander and put it straight back on top of the pot. Steaming makes potatoes fluffy

3) Chop all the vegetables and sauteed them in a pan with olive oil. When done, put the vegetables in a plate. Set aside

4) In the same pan, on medium heat, mash the potatoes and add cream, butter, sea salt and black pepper. Stir constantly and make the potato fluffy. Add the cooked vegetables and mix well.

5) Add more sea salt and black pepper if needed after tasting.

오무라이스/オムライス/Omelet Rice

오무라이스/オムライス/Omurice

Since I was little, I have been fascinated by this cute and delicious dish. I first saw them in Japanese anime, which the moms cook omurice for their kids, then I saw omurice in real life in Japan/Japanese restaurants, and finally I saw it in a funny omurice scene in a recent Korean drama I watched, "Rooftop Prince" (I didn't know Koreans also make Omurice!). To me...it's such a happy dish with all the bright colors and flavorful ingredients. I always enjoy making omurice...it makes me feel like I am very young in heart (hey, I am still young...)..Also, it's a good way to get rid of old ingredients before they turn bad. You know, there is really no fixed recipe of how you make the fried rice. It's like an impromptu dish that gives everyone a pleasant surprise. After a stressful day, I revisited the recipe last night simply based on what I have in the fridge. It turns out to be a nice combo, so I want to share it here :)


Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup of rice, cooked
~1/2 cup of clams (I used frozen clams)

2 carrots
~1 cup of chopped spinach
2 cloves of garlic
onion, chopped
~4 tbs Korean red pepper paste
~1/2 cup of ketchup
~2 tsp white truffle oil
a pinch of pepper
a pinch of sea salt
~3 tbs sugar
1-2 tbs butter
2 eggs for the omelet
1 tbs whipping cream/milk


Steps:

1. Chopped ingredients (carrots, spinach, garlic, onion) into dices/smaller pieces. Preheat pan with medium heat and pan fry the garlic and onion until the flavor comes out 
2. Sauteed chopped ingredients and clams with the garlic and onion. Season with a pinch of sea salt, pepper and butter. Drizzle white truffle oil to flavor 
3. Turn up the heat and add rice. Mix the ingredients quickly together. Add red pepper paste and ketchup until the rice turned golden red. Alternatively add pepper and sugar until it reaches the desired taste 
4. On a separate bowl, beat the eggs together and add milk/whipping cream 
5. Preheat a smaller pan for the omelet. Turn up the heat and add olive oil. Once the pan is hot enough, pour in egg batter and twirl the pan in a circular motion to create a skin (make sure the egg is evenly distributed across the pan) 
6. once the omelet is completely cooked, carefully add the fried rice on one half of the omelet 
7. scrape the edges of the skin to let loose from the pan. Carefully fold the omelet in half and serve on the plate 
8. Garnish the omurice with ketchup on the top

The Lemon Glaze

I was supposed to have a "baking date" with my baking buddy for this amazing lemon pound cake recipe she raved about. I have bought all the ingredients but sadly it didn't work out...The ingredients for the date have been sitting around waiting for a baking project...in a wimp I decided to look for a different lemon pound cake recipe. I found this American recipe on a random site as a base to create my own version. American recipes are usually very heavy in sugar and butter, so I decided to cut back the portions, but alas, the original combination is just perfect! Not only I did not need to cut back sugar, but also the lemon glaze actually gives a nice twist to the flavor. I am usually not a big fan of frosting/sugar glaze, but man, this is the best glaze I ever tried!
Plus, don't forget about the whipping cream...I am amazed how moist and smooth the cake turns out because of the cream!


This is a hybrid of the recipe I used. I made some estimated adjustments to the portions based on the cake I just made:

Cake:
2 sticks of butter
5 large eggs
4/3 cups of whipping cream
2 cups of flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups of sugar
3 lemons (if small lemons, use 5), grated zest and juice
2 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze:
1 cup of confectioners' sugar
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 tbs grand manier (or any orange liquor)


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in lowest position. Butter and flour two 4 1/2-by-8-inch (6-cup) loaf pans or 9" x 13" baking pan 
2. With a mixer (I used hand whisk), cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
3. Add flour mixture alternately with the whipping cream, beat just until smooth (do not overmix) 
4. Add lemon zest and juice to the batter and mix well. Then add vanilla extract to the mixture. (do not overmix) 
5. Divide batter evenly between pans; smooth tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool 15 minutes in pan. Turn out cakes onto a rack; cool completely before glazing. 
6. Prepare the glaze by mixing the sugar with the juice and zest. Last add liquor to flavor. 
7. Pour glazing on cake. Either brush the glazing on the top or if you prepared a lot, pour over the cake and let the ends drip. Make sure the base is covered with waxed paper or a tray to catch the excess glaze

Finally...the BIG project!!

My co-blogger Elfy had her wedding in Hong Kong and what is the best way to contribute in such an important event? Not being able to be the maid of honor is killing me already. But luckily we figured out something even better. Hence the wedding cupcakes!

Okay. We are talking about 400 cupcakes. Individually boxed. I totally underestimated the time I needed and I finished the whole thing within a week's time.Finding the right boxes. Ordering the cupcake liners. Getting the ingredients for the cake itself and the frosting. And excuse me?! I am using a not so big oven here. Now I am thinking back and I really have no idea how I could do this. We had misunderstanding when we talked about the cost and at that time the bride was still in Chicago. The fight was not a major one but it only made us stronger:) It just felt so special to do such thing for your best friend's wedding. To cut costs, the cupcake is simple vanilla with plain vanilla buttercream. Believe it or not, I didn't frost the cupcakes as I worried they would be ruined when we transported them. And so I frosted them at the venue. YES! At the venue. I frosted 400 cupcakes in about 2.5 hours and I was the only one who was capable to do the piping. I once wanted to give up so badly because I didn't think I could finish them anyway! I remember my hands were shaking when I was done frosting them and I so wanted to cry! But when the bride mentioned me in her thank you speech, it made everything worth it!

To my precious Elfy ( The LITTLE Mrs Lam)

My best friend:)

Everytime I think back, I know how amazing God is to put us together. You know if I wasn't sick years ago, then I wouldn't have studied in two grades lower, then I wouldn't have known you for sure! It's really really speechless!

And time flies, we have known each other for 10 years. During the time you were or are in the states, we parted and talked little. But interesting is that we started to gather and we hung out and we even got into a stupid fight one time lol. But those only make our friendship even stronger:)

This blog truly represents how we started our friendship. And I am very happy that your BIG PROJECT (or our big project) is around the corner. I can't wait to be a part of it. So here I will record every detail during the process and I hope this is a precious gift to you and Henry:)

Love you to bits

Sarah xo
(Your co-blogger/Shopping partner/Best friend)